(4 minutes read)
· Eskom Holdings said it was being charged with supplying misleading information to a government air quality officer regarding emission limits at the Kendal coal-fired power plant and breaching its Atmospheric Emission License
· he 4 116-megawatt facility had its pollution abatement equipment damaged during a 2018 strike and has since been the subject of a series of orders from the environment department mainly relating to the emission of particulate matter
· The emission, it is alleged, causes respiratory disease
· Eskom’s argument is that closing Kendal would add to the country’s power supply deficit since the company produces almost all of South Africa’s electricity and still not able to meet the power requirements of the country
Eskom Holdings said it was being charged with supplying misleading information to a government air quality officer regarding emission limits at the Kendal coal-fired power plant and breaching its Atmospheric Emission License.
The 4 116-megawatt facility had its pollution abatement equipment damaged during a 2018 strike and has since been the subject of a series of orders from the environment department mainly relating to the emission of particulate matter. The emission, it is alleged, causes respiratory disease. The case will be heard on January 28 next year.
Eskom is responsible for two-fifths of South Africa’s greenhouse gas emissions and a host of other pollutants including sulfur dioxide. The partial closure of the plant is already ordered by the department of environment to take remedial action.
Environmentalists feel that Eskom has violated and ignored emission control requirements and deadlines with impunity so any step towards holding the company accountable would be a significant step forward. If the power utility is punished, they maintain that it would be a landmark judgment, which will have bearing on similarly polluting companies also.
Eskom’s argument is that closing Kendal would add to the country’s power supply deficit since the company produces almost all of South Africa’s electricity and still is not able to meet the power requirements of the country. Kendal is the world’s largest indirect dry-cooled power plant. By virtue of its dry-cooled facility, the plant uses less water than conventional wet-cooled coal-fired power plants.
